Krista Johns, a commission staff member, would not reveal the nature of the change made by the commissioners at their semi-annual meeting in Sacramento on Friday when the California Community College Chancellor’s Office asked for a copy of it, said Paul Feist, a spokesman for state Chancellor Brice Harris.

But the chancellor’s office and other supporters of City College consider any change to the revocation policy a hopeful sign that — maybe — the 19-member commission will extend the July 31 revocation deadline, even though the commission’s three-person leadership has refused to do so.

“Our hope is that the accrediting commission listened to Chancellor Harris and (City College) Chancellor Art Tyler on Wednesday,” when the chancellors told the commission that City College deserved to stay open because it had repaired 95 percent of its problems with governance and fiscal management. The chancellors invited the commission to send in a new team to evaluate City College. The commission’s leaders — President Barbara Beno, Chairwoman Sherrill Amador and Vice Chairman Steven Kinsella — had previously told The Chronicle that they would not do so, preferring to rely on a 14-month-old evaluation. The college has been working feverishly for nearly two years to come into compliance.

Harris, with City College leaders and faculty, and politicians including San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, and Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, have urged the commission’s rigid leadership to extend the revocation deadline to give City College more time to come into compliance with accreditation standards. Without accreditation, the college of nearly 80,000 students would be forced to close. (Revocation could not happen until October, when a judge will decide if the commission properly evaluated City College in 2012.)

Feist said the chancellor is hopeful, but not certain, that the deadline could be extended.

“The devil is in the details,” he said. He then added that his office was told the new policy would be posted on the commission’s website on Wednesday, after which time community colleges will have a chance to give the commission feedback about it.

Meanwhile, dozens of City College supporters who had traveled from San Francisco to Sacramento tried to address the private commission on Friday during the 15-minute public comment period. Although the period was extended by 10 minutes, Amador stunned the visitors by refusing to let the last speaker, college supporter Alvin Ja, speak or distribute his written comments to the commissions.

When Ja handed out his comments anyway, Amador called for hotel security. (Ironically, the meeting was held at the Citizen Hotel.)

Witnesses said Ja and the commissioners were calm, and although security arrived, no officer was about to apprehend someone for handing out papers. Things changed when Ja tried to give a paper to Amador.

“She got angry when he handed her the paper, and she ripped it up in a dramatic fashion,” said Tim Killikelly, president of the faculty union at City College.

Others in the room said that Amador loudly told Ja, “Get out!”

“For something so critical as the closing of a college of 80,000 students — and after you come to Sacramento to make a statement — this was incredibly irritating and frustrating,” Killikelly said.